Your teenager comes home with a piece of paper instead of a booking photo. An officer stopped them at a store, at a park or outside school, and instead of taking them to the Juvenile Assessment Center, wrote a citation. Your first feeling is relief. Your second is confusion. Is this an arrest? Does my child have to go to court? Will this show up when they apply to college?
That piece of paper may be one of the most valuable opportunities your child ever gets from the justice system. It may also be lost through a missed appointment or a careless answer. Here is how it works in Miami-Dade.
The program has a new name
Many parents still call it “civil citation.” Florida now calls it a prearrest delinquency citation program. Florida Statute 985.12 requires every judicial circuit to have one for misdemeanor offenses, and each circuit sets its own list of qualifying offenses and eligibility rules. One rule applies statewide: offenses involving the use or possession of a firearm do not qualify.
In Miami-Dade, the program is called the Juvenile Prearrest Delinquency Citation Program.
Who qualifies in Miami-Dade
The county’s program page lists these requirements:
- The child is 17 or younger.
- The offense is a qualifying misdemeanor.
- The child has no previous criminal history.
- A law enforcement officer issued a citation.
- The State Attorney approves the case.
The county also says a minor may participate for up to three misdemeanors. Read that alongside the other requirements. It does not mean a second or third incident is automatically accepted, and the State Attorney still approves every case.
Be completely honest with your lawyer about any earlier contact with police, including a prior citation or program. To a parent, “no record” often means “never convicted.” The program may look at more than that, and an incomplete answer can slow everything down.
What your child will actually have to do
According to the county, participation can include an assessment of your child’s needs, counseling or group referrals, case management, victim and offender mediation, restitution, community service and monitoring of school goals. The county estimates the program takes roughly three to six months, and it notes a free transit pass may be available if transportation is a problem.
Your child’s written requirements are what count, so read them together. Find out who the case manager is, when the first appointment is and how each completed task gets documented. Keep copies of every attendance sheet and every signed log of service hours.
If school, transportation, a disability or your work schedule gets in the way, raise it early. A problem you report in week two is a scheduling conversation. A problem you ignore until week ten becomes a failure notice.
What “no criminal record” really means
The county states that successful completion means no criminal record is created, with no court fees and no court appearances. That is the reason this program deserves your full attention.
Be precise about what it covers. It is about the criminal record. A school note, a store’s internal report or a post someone made online is a separate matter. If your child was actually arrested, rather than cited, the record question changes. Florida Statute 943.0582 provides a way to expunge a qualifying nonjudicial arrest record after a diversion program, but it requires an application and has its own conditions. Our article on juvenile record expunction walks through those rules, and our expungement page covers record relief generally.
Eligibility is one question. The evidence is another.
Most citations in Miami-Dade involve shoplifting, fights or minor property damage. Even when a citation is offered, someone should look at whether the accusation holds up. Under Florida Statute 812.014, theft requires proof of intent. A self-checkout mistake or an item a friend dropped in the bag may tell a different story than the store’s report.
Save receipts, messages and anything showing what happened before security stepped in. Our theft defense page explains the underlying charge, and our article on teen shoplifting cases goes further. A quick confession to “get it over with” should never replace a careful look at the evidence.
If something goes wrong
The county warns that if a child does not complete the program, the case goes back to the State Attorney for review. That does not prove the original accusation, but it does reopen the door the citation was meant to close.
If your child cannot finish a requirement, call the case manager and your lawyer right away. Never report hours that were not performed, and never assume a casual phone conversation changed the written terms. Get any change in writing. When the program ends, get a completion letter and keep it with the original citation for good.
The lawyers behind your family
A citation is often a family’s first contact with the juvenile system, and that first decision affects what follows. Stephen Millan, Esq. is a former Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge who presided over hundreds of criminal and juvenile cases, and a former Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney. Arthur Spiegel, Esq. is a former Miami-Dade Assistant Public Defender in the juvenile and criminal divisions who has represented hundreds of juveniles in criminal cases, with more than 40 years of experience. Jorge E. Alonso, Esq. has defended the accused in Miami-Dade state and federal courts for more than 40 years, has tried more than 100 jury trials to verdict and has represented juvenile respondents in delinquency cases. Jonathan Ibáñez, Esq., a bilingual criminal defense trial lawyer and a native of South Florida, served as a volunteer Guardian ad Litem in Broward County, where he interviewed children and families and advocated for children in dependency proceedings. Albert Quirantes, Esq. is a criminal trial lawyer with 38 years of experience who has defended numerous juvenile cases in Miami-Dade County. Meet the team on our attorneys page, and see our Miami juvenile defense page for the full process.
If your child was arrested instead of cited, the options look different. Our article on juvenile diversion in Miami-Dade explains what comes next. If the incident happened in Broward or Palm Beach, ask about that circuit’s own program, because its rules may differ.
For more information or help, schedule a free strategy session at the law offices of Albert Quirantes, Esq. Criminal DUI & Ticket Lawyers. Text or call 305-644-1800 now.
